TOKYO (AP) - Archaeologists have unearthed the site of Genghis Khan's palace and believe the long-sought grave of the 13th century Mongolian warrior is somewhere nearby, the head of the excavation team said Wednesday. A Japanese and Mongolian research team found the complex on a grassy steppe 150 miles east of the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, said Shinpei Kato, professor emeritus at Tokyo's Kokugakuin University.

Genghis Khan (c. 1162-1227) united warring tribes to become leader of the Mongols in 1206. After his death, his descendants expanded his empire until it stretched from China to Hungary.

Genghis Khan built the palace in the simple shape of a square tent attached to wooden columns on the site at around 1200, Kato said.

The researchers found porcelain buried among the ruins dated to the warrior's era, helping identify the grounds, Kato said. A description of the scenery around the palace by a messenger from China's Southern Tang Dynasty in 1232 also matched the area, he added.

Genghis Khan's tomb is believed to be nearby because ancient texts say court officials commuted from the mausoleum later built on the grounds to the burial site daily to conduct rituals for the dead.

Kato said his group was not aiming specifically to find the grave. Still, he said finding it would help uncover the secrets of Genghis Khan's power.

"Genghis Khan conquered Eurasia and built a massive empire. There had to have been a great deal of interaction between east and west at the time, in terms of culture and the exchange of goods," Kato said in an interview. "If we find what items were buried with him, we could write a new page for world history."

Genghis Khan's grave site is one of archaeology's enduring mysteries. According to legend, in order to keep it secret, his huge burial party killed anyone who saw them en route to it; then servants and soldiers who attended the funeral were massacred.

Kato said an ancient Chinese text says a baby camel was buried at the grave in front of her mother so the parent could lead Khan's family to the tomb when needed.

Archaeologists have been forced to abandon their searches for Khan's grave in the past, however, due to protests excavation would disturb the site.

An American-financed expedition to find the tomb stopped work in 2002 after being accused by a prominent Mongolian politician of desecrating traditional rulers' graves.

In 1993, Japanese archaeologists terminated a search for the tomb after a poll in Ulan Bator found the project unpopular.

According to Mongolian tradition, violating ancestral tombs destroys the soul that serves as protector.

If researchers do find the tomb, they would also likely discover the graves of Kublai Khan - Genghis' grandson who spread the Mongol empire to southeast Asia and became the first emperor of China's Yuan Dynasty - at the same time.

According to ancient texts, 13 or 14 Khan warriors, including Genghis and Kublai, are buried in the same place.

Kato said he would step aside and leave the matter of how to proceed up to his Mongolian colleagues if the team discovered the tombs.

"We will consult our Mongolian colleagues and decide what the best next step would be - we may have to escape back to Japan," Kato said, laughing. "Excavation should be done by Mongolians - not by those of us from other countries. It is up for Mongolians to decide."

he did have a way dealing with them, immolation, but only if they didn't surrender. If his foes surrendered and were willing to trade with his Empire, Ghenghis Khan allowed their leaders to continue in power, allowed full religious freedom, and created a free-trade zone from Beijing to the Balkans. He would even adopt a child or orphan from the leading families of the cities who surrendered to him, and literally bound his empire together through intermarriages, intellectual exchange and trade.

Your right about Bagdad, but I read a biography of his where he had sent some ambassadors to negotiate a trade agreement with an Islamic city in Central Asia - I think it may have been Samarkand. The Muslim ruler nailed the ambassadors to the city wall.

Bad move.

In his sixties Genghis led a huge Mongol army hundreds of miles and came up on the city from the direction least expected - the west - and levelled it.

I always liked Genghis. I might disagree with him on some points, but his methods got results.

On the positive side, he always respected ambassadors, tolerated all religions, and never used torture.

26
posted on 10/06/2004 6:49:15 AM PDT
by ZULU
(Fear the government which fears your guns. God, guts, and guns made America great.)

Indeed. When an American Marine, Victor Chin put the US flag on Saddaam's statue, the Arab presstitutes started howling that the US was unleashing the hordes of Genghis Khan(Mr. Chin's family was originally from China)upon the Arabs, in order to sack Baghdad again!

Descendants of the Mongols are all over Indo China. HRH Sauryavong Savang, the head of the Lao Royal Family in exile once told me that his family was descended from generals of the Great Khan and had arrived in Laos in the 1200s.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree : Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round : And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. But oh ! that deep romantic chasm which slanted Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover ! A savage place ! as holy and enchanted As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted By woman wailing for her demon-lover ! And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething, As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing, A mighty fountain momently was forced : Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail, Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail : And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever It flung up momently the sacred river. Five miles meandering with a mazy motion Through wood and dale the sacred river ran, Then reached the caverns measureless to man, And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean : And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far Ancestral voices prophesying war !

The shadow of the dome of pleasure Floated midway on the waves ; Where was heard the mingled measure From the fountain and the caves.

It was a miracle of rare device, A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice ! A damsel with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw : It was an Abyssinian maid, And on her dulcimer she played, Singing of Mount Abora. Could I revive within me Her symphony and song, To such a deep delight 'twould win me,

That with music loud and long, I would build that dome in air, That sunny dome ! those caves of ice ! And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware ! Beware ! His flashing eyes, his floating hair ! Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread, For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Sunday, June 13, 2004 Genghis Khan - Most "Successful" Alpha Male In History The Times: Genghis super-Y  the gene for a true alpha male

Genghis Khan has been identified as the most successful alpha male in human history, according to a book by an Oxford geneticist.

The Mongol emperor inseminated so many women in his 40-year career raping and pillaging across Asia that he created a pool of at least 16m male descendants who today carry his Y, or male, chromosome.

The Y chromosome is passed unchanged from father to son and, in the 13th century, Genghiss empire stretched from Mongolia to Afghanistan, Russia and Iran.

Oxford scientists took samples of male DNA in 16 locations across Asia and found the same Y chromosome in 8% of the population.

The idea that the chromosome could come from Genghis appeared to be confirmed by the finding that it was carried by a third of the Hazara tribe, which lives on the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The tribe has always claimed to descend from Genghis.

I dunno, IMO, I'd call Genghis Khan a greater conqueror than Alexander -- all Alex did was knock off the Persian Shah and gain his Empire -- the hard work had already been done by the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian Empires, he didn't add on too much more -- when he did face a sizable and determined force (Porus) he barely succeeded. And Porus was only a very minor Indian king Alex's army got scared when they heard of the even larger armies further to the East

Yes, but without Alexander, the Persians might have conquered Greece. There would have been no Western Civilization. So I'd say that notwithstanding Alexander's smaller territory compared to Genghis, Alexander was far more important. Besides, Alexander was a student of Aristotle. It's possible that a lost manuscript or two got buried with him. His tomb -- because of its possible contents -- could be a far more important find than that of Genghis.

That may have been a good thing -- the Persians were tolerant and highly civilised (remember, among other things wine cultivation started in Iran) and they didn't have a gay culture...

There would have been no Western Civilization

Well there would have been one -- but it would have been a Romano-Persian culture -- Persia would not have moved as far west as Italy -- they were not a maritime power. They would have been stopped by the mountains to the north of Greece. Rome would have been Rome but with Persian influences. Who knows, Rome defeated the giant Hellenic kingdoms after the Second Punic War, they may have defeated the Persians earlier and had an Empire stretching from Britain to India or beyond. A stronger Rome would have meant a stronger Christianity and probably noIslam as they would have been smote by the power of Rome

I'd agree that Alexander just defeated the Persian king (who was betrayed and murdered by nobles if memory serves) and took over the existing empire. However, Genghis Khan did the same thing in China -- as you said, "the hard work had already been done." Elsewhere in Asia his forces (with or without him) would ride up unexpectedly, kick the crap out of everyone, kill a bunch of people, took a bunch of booty, set up a puppet regime, and leave, having eaten up everything in sight.

The Scythians and various other westbound invaders from the steppe were more significant than Genghis Khan, although I've heard tell that he may have left literally millions of offspring all over the place due to, well...

The Mongol emperor's habit of killing the men and inseminating the women when his army conquered a new territory, coupled with handing the Empire and other wealth to his sons, and their sons, would explain how the chromosome came to such prevalence today, said Sykes.

The final piece of evidence came from the Hazara, a hill tribe in Pakistan who had a strong oral history of being descended from Genghis Khan.

"The Y chromosome was present in the Hazara, but not in the surrounding tribes, who did not have this oral history. Though the evidence is circumstantial, it is, I believe, very strong," Sykes said.

Alexander's conquest didn't hold together as a single unit after his untimely death, but altogether the various kingdoms covered a slightly larger area and lasted in some cases for centuries. Unlike the Persian Empire that area included Greece, which Persia never managed to conquer (not for lack of trying).

I'd also agree that a Persian victory against the city-states of Greece could have done irreparable damage to the unfolding civilization we often take for granted.

It was pronounced 'Chengis'. The term Chengisxhan was a title adopted at the all-tribal council which elected him ruler of high Asia around 1206, or 'ruler over all such as live in felt tents'. The man's giv en name was Tem-ujin.

The guy was the ultimate self-made man. His conquest of Northern China and the later conquest of all of China by his dynasty should in theory have been impossible since there was a population differential of at least 100/1 between China and Mongolia. Kind of like a squirrel killing a lion and eating it.

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